[pct-l] Abby Sunderland/non-stop

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

After reading all that I am convinced nobody of any age should sail  
on the ocean.

All I did was go for a little walky and encounter 9 bears, 3  
rattlesnakes and a whole lot of deadly pancakes. What a snore.

Diane

On Jun 15, 2010, at 11:46 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Non-stop literally means without entering any harbor, or connecting  
> up with another boat or person, with no supply support of any kind  
> (except, in older times, mail).
>
> The first person to do this was Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in 1968.   
> He bought "Suhaili", a 32 foot ketch, in India.  It was  
> delapidated, but he restored it for the purpose of sailing it back  
> to England, his home, which he did.  He was a professional seaman.  
> He decided to enter the race to sail around the world non-stop,  
> single-handed.  From his website:
>
> "Progress was slow initially as RKJ was recovering from an attack  
> of jaundice. By the time she passed the Cape of Good Hope she was  
> in the lead, but had already been knocked down, her coach roof  
> shifted, her water tanks polluted and her radio out of action.
>
> For the next 8 ? months the only contact was when sighted from the  
> shore or by a solitary ship. There was no means of communication  
> and no way to tell anyone if the boat got into trouble, as with  
> beacons or EPIRB?s in those pre-satellite days. The loss of the  
> radio also gave a navigational problem as it was no longer possible  
> to obtain time checks, and accurate time is essential when using a  
> sextant to calculate position, which was all that was available  
> then. Weather forecasts too were now unobtainable, reliance being  
> placed on a barometer removed from a public house, the clouds and  
> the wind direction, but this did not help to warn of deeper storms  
> as they approached.
> More storms followed as Suhaili made her way through the Southern  
> Ocean, sails were torn, the main gooseneck broke and off Australia  
> her self steering finally gave up the ghost. From then on the boat  
> had to be balanced or hand steered.
>
> After 147 days at sea she approached the pilot vessel off Melbourne  
> to announce that she was still racing and drop off mail. A brief  
> call off Dunedin, and grounding for 5 hours, and the she continued  
> towards Cape Horn.
>
> It was during a storm which reached Force 12(>73 mph), and after  
> another knockdown, that the efficiency of warps being towed behind  
> the boat was discovered and she rode the largest of waves  
> thereafter in comparative safety.
>
> The waves in the Southern Ocean are the largest to be found  
> anywhere in the world. In theory they can reach more than 30 metres  
> in height, but the largest seen during the voyage was, perhaps, 25  
> metres high, but it had built up into a wall, breaking at the  
> crest. RKJ was on deck as it suddenly reared up half a mile astern,  
> and by the time its true proportions were clear it was too late to  
> seek shelter below. He climbed the rigging and hung on as the stern  
> reared up and the wave crashed over the boat. For what seemed an  
> eternity there was nothing in sight but two masts and boiling water  
> and then Suhaili shook herself and re-appeared. Without the warps  
> she would have broached and been viciously rolled and possibly  
> foundered.
>
> Suhaili was now on the home straight with just a ? of the  
> circumnavigation left to complete, but an attack of appendicitis as  
> she crossed the Equator nearly finished the voyage.  On Saturday  
> the 5th April 1969 she called a British Tanker with a signal lamp,  
> the ?Mobil Acme? and reported her position off the Azores, the  
> first news for more than 4 ? months. She sailed into Falmouth  
> Harbour on 22nd April 1969 to be greeted by the Customs Officials  
> with the traditional demand of ?Where from? The single word answer  
> was ?Falmouth? She arrived, battered, after 312 days at sea, having  
> become the first boat to ever be sailed non-stop around the world  
> and single handed, and, up to then, the lengthiest voyage ever made."
>
> His book "A World of my Own", is can't-put-down reading.

Books I've written:
~ Piper's Flight
~ Adventure and Magic
~ Santa Barbara Hikes
http://stores.lulu.com/dianesoini

We're not here for a long time, but we are here for a good time